Fan Corner: Why Should You Watch the Bundesliga?

Who doesn’t think their league is the best in the world, Right? But beyond self-flattery, you need to offer reasons for why your league is the best. So, I’ll ask this question about my favorite league, the Bundesliga: what makes it so special compared with other league? What are its unique attributes? Here is my attempt to answer these questions as a Bundesliga fan. My answer is three-fold:

1. Exciting Competition

We have all heard the label: that the Bunsesliga is a “one team league,” along with similar claims. But what makes the Bundesliga special is that there’s always room for surprises. There is no denying that Bayern Munich have been dominant in the last couple of years, but the league has a lot more to offer than just the title race. The difference between Borussia Dortmund, who sit in tenth, is only seven points away from the current fourth place side. This table congestion shows how tight the competition is and how a single win or loss can have a huge impact on the table standing.

Paradoxically, the competitive table also can be a reason behind Bayern’s dominance. Most of the teams, if not all, have ridiculously huge respect for the Bavarian Giants and usually abandon their primary game plan to salvage a point if not narrow the margin of loss against Bayern. They are already defeated before stepping on to the pitch. But when they face the other big teams they have no such problem and an upset is always a possibility. This phenomenon means that clubs win and lose among themselves, so Bayern can always rely on the team below them to drop points, thanks to the competitiveness between the other Bundesliga clubs.

Besides, the recent 4-1 loss to Wolfsburg shows us that Bayern are not always invincible.

2. Fan Friendly

What makes the Bundesliga standout from other European leagues is the high level of attachment, participation, and devotion between fans and clubs. Because clubs are majority owned by the fans, stadium tickets cost lower prices than elsewhere in Europe. Furthermore, the Bundesliga is the best league when it comes to providing a fan all the footballing experience one could hope for. Take Mats Hummels and Roman Weidenfeller as an example; after BVB’s home loss to Augsburg, they bravely climbed up onto the fence and apologized to the fans. I don’t think you will ever see such type of closeness between fans and players anywhere else in the world.

3. Quality Football

The sheer quality of football you see in the Bundesliga is simply outstanding. Being the most goal-hungry league in Europe, the league provides you with end-to-end action, attacking football, incredible skills, amazing goals and a mouth-watering contest that goes right to the last whistle. A Bundesliga game is almost never boring as there is always something to be excited about it. You don’t have cagey and excessively tactical games, nor a game you would be able to predict the final score earlier – except Bayern’s games, of course!

It’s for these three reasons that the Bundesliga attracts many fans from across the globe. There would obviously be a lot of ongoing debate of who has the better league but for the moment there’s nothing more exciting than watching a Bundesliga game. And after all it’s the League of The World Champions.

Brook lives in Ethiopia, and started following the Bundesliga from a very young age. His favourite players then were Thomas Rosicky - the reason he became a Dortmund fan! - and Marcelinho of Hertha Berlin. He likes to watch, read, write and talk about football with special interest in discussing emerging young talents. Follow @brookge

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